Technical Field
This invention relates to on-premises paging and communication systems. More particularly, and not by way of limitation, the present invention is directed to an on-premises restaurant communication system and method that enables restaurant personnel to identify a customer's table number for delivery of a food order, or enables the restaurant personnel to page a customer waiting for a takeout order.
Description of Related Art
Many restaurants use a service method in which customers order their food at a central service counter, and then select their own table where they sit and wait for their food to be prepared. The customers may give their names to a server at the central counter, or the server may give each customer a number that will be called when the customer's food is ready. In either case, when the food is ready, a public address (PA) system is used to call out the name or number of the customer whose food is ready. The called customer then proceeds to the central counter and picks up his food. A disadvantage of the central service counter method is that many noisy PA system announcements must be made within the restaurant, thereby making the restaurant a less pleasant place to eat.
Some restaurants using the central service counter method eliminate the need to make noisy announcements by permanently mounting fixed paging receivers on tables throughout the restaurant and providing the customer with a data token that includes an encoded customer identifier. One such paging system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,278 assigned to Long Range Systems, Inc. The customer inputs the token into the fixed paging receiver on the customer's selected table. When the customer's order is ready for pickup, a programmable paging transmitter broadcasts a paging message in the restaurant that includes the customer identifier. The fixed paging receiver mounted on the customer's table then generates an alert signal to alert the customer that his/her order is ready.
The fixed paging receivers, however, have the disadvantage that the restaurant staff must maintain and, if necessary, repair them. Batteries must be regularly replaced, and the permanently mounted paging receivers are susceptible to damage by customers.
In restaurants with sit-down service, customers often have to wait in a waiting area or lounge for a table to become available before they can sit down and order their food from a waiter. Some of these restaurants utilize an on-premises paging system to alert waiting customers when their table is available. When the customer first arrives at the restaurant, he is given an on-premises pager by the receptionist who then enters the code number of the pager into the on-premises paging system. When the customer's table is available, an on-premises paging transmitter pages the customer's pager with the proper code number, and the customer is alerted. When not in use, these pagers are stacked on a recharging base, thus eliminating the need for restaurant staff to change batteries.
In other restaurants having takeout operations, customers waiting for their food orders must remain in the area of the food service counter so that a restaurant staff member can notify them when their order is ready. This is normally done verbally.